What parents need to know

Positive messages

The movie explores the idea that humankind's exploration of outer space is the next step in the evolution of our species.

Positive role models

Characters are too archetypal to be seen as positive role models. For all its emphasis on the technological advances of the future, all the astronauts are exclusively men, and, with very few exceptions, women are merely "flight attendants."

Violence

Apes making the slow evolution from ape to man compete for scarce resources against a rival gang of apes while hiding from, and sometimes being attacked and eaten by, predators. With the help of a mysterious black monolith that appears, the man-apes learn to use bones that are just the right size for swinging as weapons to defend themselves from the predators, fight and kill the rival apes, and hunt and kill for food. Later, there is outer space peril heightened by loud and discordant music and hypnotic visual effects as an astronaut begins to learn the truth involving a giant black monolith found on the moon and near Jupiter.

Sex

Not applicable

Language

"Damned," "hell" infrequently.

Consumerism

The IBM logo is featured prominently on computers. The astronauts watch, and are interviewed by, BBC News. Ironically enough, the space plane carrying Dr. Heywood Floyd from Earth to the space station is owned and operated by Pan Am, an air carrier that declared bankruptcy exactly 10 years before the year in which this movie takes place.

Drinking, drugs, & smoking

Not applicable

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that 2001: A Space Odyssey is the 1969 classic Stanley Kubrick adaptation of the Arthur C. Clarke novel. While many think it's one of the greatest films ever made and was the first of what would prove to be many big-budget Hollywood science fiction films, the film's slow build and heady subject matter make this best for inquisitive tweens and older. There is some violence, especially early on, when apes on the verge of evolving into humans learn how to defend themselves from predators and rivals while beginning to develop the tools needed to hunt and survive. The discordant music and hypnotic visual effects might also prove to be too intense for more sensitive viewers. Mild profanity includes "hell" and "damn." Families looking for more straightforward and easy-to-understand science fiction will be put off by the movie's lengthy scenes involving characters contending with weightlessness as classical music plays, as well as the jarring surrealism and the open-ended conclusion.

User reviews

Parents say

Kids say

What's the story?

In this science fiction masterpiece, Stanley Kubrick tracks the odyssey of mankind, from the dawn of man 4 million years ago to the exploration of deep space. The film begins with a desolate time when our ape-like predecessors led frightened and brutal lives, scrounging for food and huddling against the cold night while wild animals howled in the distance. In a few short minutes, Kubrick has spanned the epochs, depicting the origins of tribes and the miraculous morning when apes awoke and learned how to use tools. With this ability, mankind was launched on its journey to the stars. On Kubrick's time line, it's only a small next step to the exploration of the moon. And from the moon, mankind heads off to Jupiter. But what is triggering these immense changes? Why are humans evolving, and what is their destiny? At transforming moments along this odyssey, a mysterious black monolith appears, drawing humans ever forward. But toward what?

Is it any good?

QUALITY

2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY can be a mind-boggling experience for kids old enough to handle it. In a series of dramatic vignettes, it introduces kids to cosmic mysteries and gives them an opportunity and an incentive to grapple with issues that span the millennia. Younger tweens may be impressed by the drama, the special effects, and the beautiful music but may have a hard time following the plot. In addition, they will lose patience with some of the longer segments dealing with space exploration. (The special effects used by Kubrick were revolutionary in their day but will seem commonplace to children raised on Star Wars and Star Trek: The Next Generation.)

Even older kids may not appreciate the subtle references to political rivalries and intrigue on earth, the cover-up of mysterious developments on the moon, or the more ironic aspects of the clash between man and machine (HAL the computer plaintively crying that he is afraid and that he can feel his mind going is a poignant example). But most teenagers cannot help but be swept up in this film, which stretches their minds and gives them mysteries and uncertainty instead of endings where everything is neatly tied up with a bow. As kids strive to deal with the uncertainty of the ending ,and fill in its gaps and illuminate its gray areas by drawing upon their own personality and sense of the world, they are on their way to appreciating greater and more mature forms of art.

Families can talk about...

Families can talk about how 2001: A Space Odyssey laid the groundwork for the future blockbuster sci-fi films of the 1970s and beyond. How might it be viewed by some as a relic of the Space Age, a time when the United States was landing on the moon and seemed destined for further manned outer space exploration? How might it be viewed as a timeless masterpiece whose themes transcend the era in which the film was made?

How were music and sound used to set the mood and heighten tension?

"The future" has been an endless source of fascination for writers and filmmakers. Why do you think movies set many years from the time in which they were released hold such an appeal for so many? How does this movie explore, and in some ways predict, humankind's contemporary relationship with technology?

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The age displayed for each title is the minimum one for which it's developmentally appropriate. We recently updated all of our reviews to show only this age, rather than the multi-color "slider." Get more information about our ratings.

2001-not for everybody

"2001-A Space Odyssey" is a masterpiece of film making. Based on a short story by Arthur C. Clarke, the movie is at various times philosophical and literal, poetic and logical, possible and impossible. It used at the time cutting edge special effects that were not bettered until "Star Wars" came out, and has what is perhaps the most famous "jump cut" in cinema history. The story as seen on the screen is basicly divided into 3 parts-The evolution of Man, Man's conquering of outer space, Man's next evolutionary step to "Star Child." The middle section, the moon and flight to Jupiter, is probably the most coherent and beautiful part of the film. If your teenager has the expectation of laser battles and exploding planets, this movie is not for them. However if you have a child who has begun to ask "Why are we here?", "What is the point of life?" this film is for them. Directed by Stanley Kubrick, originally in 70 mm Cinerama, and stereo. Special effects by Douglas Trumbul and John Dykstra among othesr. Hey kids, models and film tricks. No computers were used.

CSM Overreacted

Thematic elements are not really much of a problem then it CSM thought. Trust, it is one of the best films ever made (undoubtedly the best sci-fi by a llllllloooooooonnnnnnnnnggggggg shot). But really a yellow for violence you see one of those heart rate things go red and a body floating around horrible, right? The only problem is the pace, which some find annoying as heck, but I actually find it kind of soothing when I'm stressed.

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